Who can we least afford to lose with a bad injury?

[TopGun]

The Fulham game showed that most of our players have fitted into the Poch style that is serving us so well at the moment and they're all doing well.

 

But if one player got a bad injury who would you least want it to be?

 

I'd hate to lose Lovren as he has been the rock that so much else depends on.

[SammyJ]

1) Boruc

2) Lovren

3) Shaw

[Appy]

Artur Boruc.

[Hokie]

Perhaps Boruc more than Lovren.

 

Also thought Morgan, but with Cork on the bench, think we'd survive.

[ozzmeister]

Which positions do we have the weekest back up?

 

I'd say GK and LB, so in that, boruc and shaw.

[alpine_saint]

Lovren; we could get another GK in on emergency loan if we needed.

 

We've been looking for Lovren since Killer couldnt make it back.

[Dellman]

Boruc gives me great confidence, Kelvin makes me nervous, I think it might be the same for the defenders, so Boruc would be the biggest loss (but I love kelvin, great club man)

[Appy]

Lovren; we could get another GK in on emergency loan if we needed.

 

We've been looking for Lovren since Killer couldnt make it back.

 

We won't be able to get an emergency loan if we have 3 other keepers, however useless they are.

[St Chalet]

Lovren; we could get another GK in on emergency loan if we needed.

 

We've been looking for Lovren since Killer couldnt make it back.

 

I don't think we could.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Lovren; we could get another GK in on emergency loan if we needed.

 

We've been looking for Lovren since Killer couldnt make it back.

 

I somehow don't think we could justify an emergency loan with KD and PG sat on the bench/in the stand. As much as having one of them in goal is most definitely an emergency.

[alpine_saint]

We won't be able to get an emergency loan if we have 3 other keepers, however useless they are.

 

Well, if we really do have three other keepers (struggling to recall other than Gazza and Kelvin), we have someone to stand in.

 

Lovren is irreplaceable, imo.

[alpine_saint]

I somehow don't think we could justify an emergency loan with KD and PG sat on the bench/in the stand. As much as having one of them in goal is most definitely an emergency.

 

And if Kelvin suddenly decides to move onto the coaching staff ?

[Joesaint]

Boruc.. would say Lallana, but no real replacement for Boruc.

[CB Saint]

Boruc. I have kittens every time that KD stands between the sticks.

Shaw. We have no credible plan b.

[Matthew Le God]

Well, if we really do have three other keepers (struggling to recall other than Gazza and Kelvin), we have someone to stand in.

 

Cody Cropper

 

And if Kelvin suddenly decides to move onto the coaching staff ?

 

Saints already have a 1st team keeper coach, an under 21 keeper coach and youth team keeper coaches. Why would Kelvin give up 2 1/2 years of a Premier League player wage to be a coach?

[Matthew Le God]

Shaw. We have no credible plan b.

 

Clyne left back, Chambers right back isn't a bad plan b. Fox at left back would be a disaster, as the Swansea game highlighted.

[alpine_saint]

This thread illustrates everything wrong with this site.

 

I express my opinion, without rancour, that I think Lovren would be the greatest loss due to our history of struggle at CB, and think we would get by somehow at GK, and I am hounded for not agreeing with the rest.

 

Superb.

[Matthew Le God]

This thread illustrates everything wrong with this site.

 

I express my opinion, without rancour, that I think Lovren would be the greatest loss due to our history of struggle at CB, and think we would get by somehow at GK, and I am hounded for not agreeing with the rest.

 

Superb.

 

When did that happen?

[aintforever]

Lovren would be the biggest miss, he has been superb plus I'm not sure Fonte and Yoshida worked as a partnership so him being out could mess up the whole defence. Boruc would also be badly missed but I don't think it would cost us quite as much.

 

If we are to stay in touch with the top 5 we are going to have to be very lucky with injuries that is for sure.

[Bobbyboy]

Cortese

[ottery st mary]

Lovren closely followed by Boruc.

 

Would hate to lose either of these great players.

[Barry the Badger]

This thread illustrates everything wrong with this site.

 

I express my opinion, without rancour, that I think Lovren would be the greatest loss due to our history of struggle at CB, and think we would get by somehow at GK, and I am hounded for not agreeing with the rest.

 

Superb.

 

It illustrates everything that's wrong with you.

 

You give an opinion, a few people politely disagree, you overreact and say you're being hounded.

[Barry the Badger]

Boruc, much as I love KD

[david in sweden]

Lovren; we could get another GK in on emergency loan if we needed.

 

We've been looking for Lovren since Killer couldnt make it back.

 

 

would that be allowed ?. The League might say that we have three other keepers already on the staff, two of whom have played in the Prem. already .....

 

and even if it were....who has a "spare keeper " anywhere near Boruc' standard who would be willing to part with him?.

[Matthew Le God]

we could get another GK in on emergency loan if we needed.

 

We won't be able to get an emergency loan if we have 3 other keepers, however useless they are.

 

Rule V.7.6.2. is about the the temporary transfer of a goalkeeper and say it is at the "absolute discretion the Board may allow in circumstances it considers to be exceptional". The Premier League rules don't make any mention of a club having 3 keepers.

 

Man City signed Martin Fulop on an emergency keeper loan in April 2010 when Shay Given was injured.

 

At the time they had these keepers available to them...

 

Stuart Taylor

Gunnar Nielson

Tobias Johansen

David González

 

It is at the Premier League board's discretion if they let you have an emergency goalkeeper loan from the start of September to the end of December or the start of February to the end of the season.

Edited 28 October, 2013 by Matthew Le God

[TopGun]

This thread illustrates everything wrong with this site.

 

I express my opinion, without rancour, that I think Lovren would be the greatest loss due to our history of struggle at CB, and think we would get by somehow at GK, and I am hounded for not agreeing with the rest.

 

Superb.

 

Alps, I'm the OP who suggested Lovren... I'm not feeling hounded though.

 

It's a theoretical debate that doesn't necessarily have a right answer anyway and I hope we don't have to see the question I posed answered in any case.

Edited 28 October, 2013 by TopGun

[VectisSaint]

This thread illustrates everything wrong with this site.

 

I express my opinion, without rancour, that I think Lovren would be the greatest loss due to our history of struggle at CB, and think we would get by somehow at GK, and I am hounded for not agreeing with the rest.

 

Superb.

Where have you been "hounded" for your opinion that Lovren would be the greatest loss? The only replies to your post are that we could not get an emergency loan for a keeper, which is a fact, due to the FA rules. Having had that fact pointed out do you still think Lovren would be the greatest loss? Maybe you do, some others agree with you. Personally I don't think Lovren would be the greatest loss, but that's just my opinion and I'm certainly not hounding you for disagreeing. IMHO Boruc would be the greatest loss. We have adequate backup for Lovren, the partnership of Fonte and Mayuka was quite acceptable last season, but that doesn't mean Lovren is no better than Mayuka, just that we have a reasonably good replacement. For Boruc we have Kelvin, and back to flapping at corners and crosses. I have lots of respect for KD for what he did for us and his loyalty but he is so far behind Boruc. Likewise with Luke Shaw, we have seen on more than one occasion that a combination of Clyne and Chambers is a decent backup plan, without having to use the diabolical Fox.

[Mattio]

The most important player in almost any team is the Goalkeeper therefore I'd have to say Boruc, based on the skill of the player vs the skill of their back up I'd say Shaw, Fox is a decent Championship player at best for me.

[SNSUN]

A good thread topic, although asking for trouble!

 

There's two players we would struggle to replace long term if we lost them to injury, Boruc and Shaw.

 

With Boruc, we have Davis and Gazzaniga as back up, and while both can do jobs, neither are close to being as good as Boruc, and I'm convinced our form would take a noticeable dip. That said, if you look back at how many shots Boruc has faced since the start of the season, it's not many, and that's due to the solid unit of 6 in front of him. Ergo Davis or Gazzaniga wouldn't have to face that many shots either, unless their very presence unnerves the players in front of them.

 

Losing Shaw would be perhaps more worrying, not only is he an outstanding youngster, but his replacement is Fox, who most of us rate as simply not good enough for the level we are striving to achieve. Ok, perhaps Chambers would fill in at right back and Clyne would get pushed to left back, but I'd still rather we didn't lose Shaw.

 

The only other player I'd not want to see us lose for any length of time is Lallana. He's been key for us creatively this season and while there are players who can fill his positions, I'm sure we'd lack a cutting edge in attack without him.

 

For me though, we cannot lose Shaw for any length of time. The January transfer window will be a blessing though, as any bad injuries before then can be rectified. God help us if we lose anyone in February though!

 

*Touch Wood*

[SNSUN]

Incidentally as crucial as Lovren has been for us this season, we ended up doing pretty well last season with Fonte/Jos and Yoshida, so Lovren is further down on my list, after the three named above. (...and maybe even Morgan.)

[Huffton]

Danny Fox. Who the hell would everybody moan about if it happened?

[Saint_clark]

And if Kelvin suddenly decides to move onto the coaching staff ?

 

1. He won't, he's on a well paying contract that will see him reach a decade at the club and make him eligible for a testimonial

2. He can't, again he has a contract so the club have a say in what he does with his career

3. Why on earth would he limit his chances of playing games in the Premier League at this stage of his career?

[Faz]

Danny Fox. Who the hell would everybody moan about if it happened?

 

Guly

[Colinjb]

I think Boruc. There is a plan B with some base credibility at every other position apart from GK. Even Shaw has the Chambers /Clyne switch. Yoshida is a reasonable fall back for Lovren, Cork for Victor, Even Rickie now has Osvaldo.God love Kelvin.... He is just not commanding enough.

[Saint Charlie]

Clearly Boruc, but without Lallana we would also lack the creativity that he brings drifting across the pitch.

 

Such clever movement that Jol called out as the main issue Fulham had with us.

[orchardsaint]

Where have you been "hounded" for your opinion that Lovren would be the greatest loss? The only replies to your post are that we could not get an emergency loan for a keeper, which is a fact, due to the FA rules. Having had that fact pointed out do you still think Lovren would be the greatest loss? Maybe you do, some others agree with you. Personally I don't think Lovren would be the greatest loss, but that's just my opinion and I'm certainly not hounding you for disagreeing. IMHO Boruc would be the greatest loss. We have adequate backup for Lovren, the partnership of Fonte and Mayuka was quite acceptable last season, but that doesn't mean Lovren is no better than Mayuka, just that we have a reasonably good replacement. For Boruc we have Kelvin, and back to flapping at corners and crosses. I have lots of respect for KD for what he did for us and his loyalty but he is so far behind Boruc. Likewise with Luke Shaw, we have seen on more than one occasion that a combination of Clyne and Chambers is a decent backup plan, without having to use the diabolical Fox.

I would love to see the fonte / mayuka partnership in the prem. Not least as isn't mayuka a forward now on loan in France? I'm sure yoshida or jos would make adequate short term stop gaps.

 

Out of personal interest, I wasn't a fan of boruc when we signed him, but I now rate him as highly as I did niemi and am very pleased he is ours and for him I would hate to see him missing. I believe as others have said, he gives the confidence to the back four/six to play their way. It is great and we should all thank the football gods boruc is ours and stays fit.

[SaintBobby]

Can see the argument for Lovren and Boruc, but I might argue Lambert is the one player we don't want to see injured.

 

I know some argue he doesn't quite fit into the new style of playing, but we have no other player quite like him and, given we haven't been scoring for fun, I think our attack would look quite toothless without him just at the moment.

[CB Saint]

Danny Fox. Who the hell would everybody moan about if it happened?

 

I am guessing that you missed all the "gashton" threads.

[Appy]

This thread illustrates everything wrong with this site.

 

I express my opinion, without rancour, that I think Lovren would be the greatest loss due to our history of struggle at CB, and think we would get by somehow at GK, and I am hounded for not agreeing with the rest.

 

Superb.

 

Where were you hounded?

 

For what it's worth I found it hard to choose between Boruc and Lovren as our most important.

[skintsaint]

Boruc for me. Davis just isn't good enough imo and Gazz has the potential but again after last season highlights how far off Boruc he is.

 

Lovren can be replaced with the Yosh who I am confident in.

 

Gaston can cover for Lallana, in fact the run of games might benefit him if it did happen.

 

Cork can cover the midfield easily enough.

 

Chambers can cover Shaw/Clyne.

 

Osvaldo and Rickie can cover each other.

[Stepgar]

I think Wanyama. Because he stops nearly everything getting to the keeper and defence anyway.

[Grey Crab]

Can everyone please stop hounding alpine saint. It is well out of order. He should be able to give an opinion without being hounded for it.

[trousers]

I think Wanyama. Because he stops nearly everything getting to the keeper and defence anyway.

 

I've gone to type 'Wanyama' on several occasions but stopped short as I know people would come back with "but we've got Cork". As much as I like Cork as a player I don't see him as a like-for-like replacement for Wanyama. Like you, I think our defensive record this season is as much to do with Wanyama as it is down to Lovren and Boruc, perhaps more so.

[Mowgli]

When did that happen?

 

The voices. It's the damn voices.....

[Solid Saint]

Fox?

 

Nah

 

Boruc.

[VectisSaint]

I would love to see the fonte / mayuka partnership in the prem. Not least as isn't mayuka a forward now on loan in France? I'm sure yoshida or jos would make adequate short term stop gaps.

Signs of senility I'm afraid, I knew I'd put the wrong name as soon as I posted it, but last post of the day and no edit facility meant my cringeworthy error was there for all to see :-) Of course I meant Maya Yoshida. I would not be happy seeing Bambi on Ice playing alongside Jos at CB, I'd almost forgotten that Mayuka was still our player.

[jamesfp1]

This thread is tempting fate. Please close.

[orchardsaint]

Signs of senility I'm afraid, I knew I'd put the wrong name as soon as I posted it, but last post of the day and no edit facility meant my cringeworthy error was there for all to see :-) Of course I meant Maya Yoshida. I would not be happy seeing Bambi on Ice playing alongside Jos at CB, I'd almost forgotten that Mayuka was still our player.

 

Sorry for the silliness, I couldn't help it. We all knew who you meant.

[Lazlo78]

1. Lovren: I think Fonte, Yoshida and Hooiveld can all look decent when paired with Lovren. When paired with each other they work less well...

2. Boruc: much better than his backup (bless 'im)

3. Morgan: We know that Cork can work with Morgan, but Cork and Wanayama has not really had time to play together

 

Our starting XI really is one of the better in the PL, but our squad lacks depth compared to some of the established top teams. Injuries could really slow down our progress, but that goes for all but a few of the teams in the league...